The Odyssey’s Trojan Horse Fell and Was Rebuilt — SkimNews
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- Ruth de Jong built several proportionally scaled Trojan Horses for The Odyssey, sizing them around the actors, an IMAX camera and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema before lowering a separate body into a tank near Troy.
- Ruth de Jong mounted a horse on a massive trench plate and used a dredger to pull deep sand for opening tests; it took a beating, fell and required an overnight rebuild before shooting the next day.
- Amy Roth layered clothing onto Anthony in I Play Rocky to preserve his silhouette and foreshadow Sly, drawing on existing Rocky material and Mike’s growing body consciousness.
- Amy Roth made Paper Tiger’s mother initially stand out against a beige house before she and the father blended into the walls, a visual choice she did not discuss with director James Grey.
- Sarah Broshar requested three more days of sound work on Disclosure Day’s train chase after her assistants had spent three, with Gary Rydstrom and Bryan Chomier later polishing the result.
- Sarah Broshar developed nonverbal shorthand with Steven Spielberg over many collaborations, reading his reaction to a cut while testing whether the scene left her tense or distracted.
- Behind Their Lens panelists converged on surprise through invisible work: de Jong wanted sets to fade back, Roth used clothing to cue character shifts, and Broshar judged scenes by whether she herself felt tense or distracted.
Why it matters: The *Odyssey* production rebuilt its Trojan horse overnight after it fell during a sand-and-water test, readying the scale-accurate prop for the next day’s shoot and retaining the battered look de Jong describes. For SCAD students and guests, three artisans offered a common lesson: production choices should recede so audiences remain immersed in the story.
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